Juvenile Fiction
Penguin
2010
369
In the Society, officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.
Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one…until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.
Matched is a story for right now and storytelling with the resonance of a classic.
My Review:
For years people have been telling me to read this book, and I’ve put it off for so long! I seriously regret not reading this sooner! What an amazing read! For the past few weeks on my walks and trains ride to work, I have been listening to this audiobook. The reader did an amazing job, she really drew me into the story. I highly recommend audiobooks by the way! For people who have audio learning disabilities like me, they really help with comprehension.
This is book one of a trilogy, and Ally Condie does an amazing job of drawing your interest in with futuristic series. Her idea of a future with the similarities to how we live, but also has surprising differences. The characters have to deal with a stifling government, and it is crazy to see how compliant and passive the population is. The reason they are this way is because their lives are good, easy, and everyone is healthy and happy. But this comes with a price.
I loved watching the characters evolve from beginning to end, it really made it engaging. At first the main character Cassia kinda got on my nerves for being such a stickler for rules and such, I like rebellious people I guess, but throughout the read she grew as a person and become this strong and powerful girl who could change everything. I ended up really liking her. I hope in the next two books she grows even more.
I absolutely loved Ky! I love that name and his whole personage. He had depth and feeling and made you think. His story was heart wrenching and his circumstances were not that great, but he was a powerful character who keep on going. “Don’t go gently” was a phrase often repeated and it began a motto in the end. Loved him!
I felt like this was a poetic read. The imagery and feelings that were invoked by the characters and surroundings made it realistic. When Cassia and Ky did their hiking activity and it would describe the trees, sun, and hills in a way that seriously almost brought me to tears. I should seriously do more audiobooks, because my mind is not that beautiful when I read.
I wonder if they will make a movie on this? It has the makings of one, but it might be considered too similar to Hunger Games and Divergent. But, I look forward to reading the rest of the series! I recommend this book to all!
Watch Out For: Death, poisoning, murder, kissing, depiction of blood, war, frequent drug use and discussions of fertility.
